Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Ferrari will react

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is confident his Formula 1 team can respond to its current difficulties, after joining a lengthy crisis meeting at Maranello on Tuesday.

The reigning constructors' champions have failed to score a point so far this season, and di Montezemolo says he has been left unimpressed by the way its campaign has begun.

However, following talks that lasted for two-and-a-half hours at Maranello today, he thinks the message has now got through to team members that the situation needs to be turned around quickly.

"It would be a euphemism to say people here were very angry, but these same people are also very determined to react," said di Montezemolo after the meeting.

"I brought with me a monk's hood to make everyone understand that we have to tackle this season with humility and made the point that I don't want to find us on some sort of TV comedy video programme after each race.

"Joking apart, I know that this group is known for its strong sense of pride and that will help us get out of this situation."

Although Ferrari remains convinced that its form has not been helped by the fact that three rival teams have been using a double-decker diffuser design, the team knows that further aerodynamic improvements are needed.

Di Montezemolo also made it clear that despite intense talks, the team was as unified as it had been under the Jean Todt era.

"Our discussions are held in the locker room, as was the case in the days of Todt and [Ross] Brawn, when we were going through particularly tough times," he said. "The team remains united and I have every confidence in it."

Although Michael Schumacher's role at the team has been the subject of intense speculation over the past few days, it is understood there was no discussion about his involvement during the meeting.